Douglas Engelbart, inventor of computer mouse and so much more, dies at 88

If you’ve used a mouse to click this article, you can thank Douglas Engelbart. The longtime inventor passed away in the late hours of July 2, at his home in Atherton, California. He was 88 years old.

In addition to inventing the computer mouse, Engelbart helped develop other technologies that have become commonplace in the computing world, including pioneering hypertext, networking, and the early stages of graphical user interfaces. He will always be one of the giants of Silicon Valley.

Most famously, Engelbart gave a now-legendary presentation on December 8, 1968, in San Francisco later known as “The Mother of all Demos.” In it, he gave the world’s first demonstration of the computer mouse, video conferencing, teleconferencing, hypertext, word processing, hypermedia, object addressing and dynamic file linking, and a collaborative real-time editor.